Morning chase ends at hospital

Suspect shot while trying to evade police

December 29, 2007|By Joel Marino Staff Writer and Staff researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

FORT LAUDERDALE — A suspected would-be thief was shot by police, then led them on a high-speed chase to a nearby hospital, where it took four officers to subdue him early Friday morning, police said.

Officers found the man, later identified as Joshua Thomas Ventry, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, sitting in a parked Dodge Stratus on the 1100 block of Mango Isle sometime before 4 a.m., according to police spokeswoman Detective Kathy Collins.

The officers were responding to a call made by a woman who said a man had broken into her home. Police at the scene noticed her door had been forcibly opened, Collins said.

Police questioned the woman outside her house, and during the interview, she noticed the Stratus parked across the street. No car should have been parked there because that area is undergoing renovations, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

The officers saw Ventry behind the wheel of the Stratus and asked him to step out, Collins said. Ventry refused, accelerated the vehicle and sped away from the scene, ramming two police cars and nearly running over two officers, Collins said.

That's when Collins said an officer fired at the car, wounding the fleeing suspect in the torso.

Police gave chase, following him to Broward General Medical Center. He circled the hospital several times before crashing head-on into a patrol car, Collins said.

But Ventry still wouldn't give up. The bloodied driver hobbled out of the car and fled on foot, Collins said. It took four officers to arrest him near the hospital's entrance, Collins said.

It is still not known whether alcohol or drugs were involved.

Ventry underwent surgery for a non-life threatening wound and was in the hospital Friday evening.

Among the charges Ventry could face are aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding police, and possibly burglary, though Collins said police are investigating whether he was involved with the attempted break-in.

"We're gathering evidence right now, but everything's looking as though this is our guy," Collins said.

Police records show Ventry has a long history of robbery, most recently in June, when he was charged with grand larceny, theft and damage to property.

The officer who fired the shot is on a three-day administrative leave with pay as required by department policy, Collins said. Neither the officers who were attacked with the car nor the officer in the head-on crash was injured, Collins said.

Staff researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

Joel Marino can be reached at jmarino@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4844.